Breaking into Japan’s telecommunications markets

Track record and results of our work in Japan’s telecommunications markets

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Breaking into Japan’s telecommunications markets: Eurotechnology Japan KK’s CEO has been working with Japan’s telecom industry since 1984, and our company has a wealth of experience and resources, and deep know-how in Japan’s telecom sector. We work on many telecoms projects, and advise CEOs of major corporations and Goverments on Japan’s telecom sector.

Our market research and analysis on Japan’s mobile phone and telecoms sectors are used all over the world by large and small corporations, banks, investment funds, Universities, Governments and even by Japanese companies.

Most of our market research work is part of strategy or business development projects, however, we also sell a series of market research reports. Many major telecom equipment companies, software companies, investment funds, Government agencies, and about 10 Embassies in Tokyo regularly purchase our market research reports in the telecom sector.

Breaking into Japan’s telecommunications markets – Track record:

Benchmarked Japan’s fixed and mobile broadband markets for the European Union and advised on what Europe can learn from Japan in telecoms

Advised NTT-Communications’ international M&A team on market entry strategy and opportunities for many (17 or more) data intensive industry sectors in Europe

Avised a Wallstreet based debt risk insurance company on the risks of SoftBank’s acquisition of Vodafone-Japan

Advised Finland’s national research agency TEKES on Japan-input for Finland’s five year plan to fund R&D in mobile services

Advised top-management (CEO, CFO, CTO, Chief of Strategy…) of one of Europe’s largest telecommunications operators on the future of telecommunications based on Japan’s telecommunications markets

Advised a group of European investors and operators in optical fibre broad band (Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and Fibre-to-the-business (FTTB)) on how to profitable operations of FTTH broad band, and on the introduction and design of new profitable broad band services

….and more

Events:

“Apple-Samsung Patent War and Impact on Japans Industries”, by Gerhard Fasol, at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan on Tuesday, October 2, 2012

In a global war to dominate the smartphone market, Samsung and Apple have been at each other’s throats, playing out the war in courts around the world and accusing each other of patent violations. A California court recently ruled in favour of Apple and ordered Samsung to pay $1 billion, a figure that could rise dramatically when the case is played out. Samsung has won minor battles in the U.K., Japan and Australia, but with new mobile phone models and tablets being introduced by both firms, the war is only going to get bigger and bloodier. In Japan local manufacturers are being marginalized and even fighting for survival.
Japan-based expert Gerhard Fasol will return to the FCCJ to shed light on the Apple-Samsung dispute and how it impacts the Japan market, Japan operators and Japan manufacturers.
Gerhard Fasol runs Japan’s Eurotechnology K.K. consultancy (www.eurotechnology.com), has advised the president of Germany, JETRO and number of Japanese companies involved in high-tech industries and has authored Japanese patent applications. Fasol, who has written a number of books, graduated with a PhD in Physics from Cambridge University and was a tenured professor at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, a research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Solid States Sciences in Germany, a manager of one of Hitachi’s R&D labs and was Director of Studies at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Apple’s 3G iPhone went on sale in early July with a splash. Eager buyers had lined up in front of stores for days hoping to be among the first to get their hands on one. Softbank Mobile, Japan’s exclusive iPhone carrier, gleefully reported completely selling out all available iPhones. (The company cagily never revealed how many had been available.) But one month on, are iPhone sales holding up? Is it really an improvement over what’s been available here for years? Can the iPhone go head-to-head with mobile phones from Japan’s own telecoms equipment makers?

To answer to these questions, this professional luncheon has been scheduled for just days after July mobile phone subscriber numbers and the latest quarterly results for carriers will be available. Giving the bullish view on iPhone will be Tetsuzo (Ted) Matsumoto, a senior executive vice president for Softbank Mobile. Matsumoto, who was previously president of Qualcomm Japan and a senior vice president of its parent company, will explain why Softbank believes the iPhone is an historic Internet machine. Long-time mobile industry expert Gerhard Fasol will give a more detached analysis of Japan’s mobile phone market and the give-and-take effect the iPhone might have. Fasol, a Ph.D. semiconductor physicist who has been working with Japan’s high-tech and telecom sectors since 1984, says Japan’s mobile phone market is something like the Galapagos Islands because its isolation allowed for an idiosyncratic evolutionary path to mobile phone services that are 3 to 5 years ahead of anything offered elsewhere. He thinks that by competing in Japan, Apple could learn how to make the iPhone platform stronger in other markets. Observers of Japan’s high-tech markets will not want to miss this luncheon

According to Mr. Fasol, Japan’s share of the global mobile phone market is 20-25%. Japan is also in many aspects 2-3 years ahead of Europe in cost of fixed and wireless internet connectivity and innovations in mobile technology and applications brought to the market.

Regarding broadband connectivity, Mr. Fasol pointed out that when talking about broadband, Europeans and Japanese don’t talk about the same thing, speeds in Japan are generally about 10 times higher. By 2010 he predicts that there would be 30 million FTTH (Fiber To The Home) connections in Japan, but only about 3 million in Europe. Broadband internet fees are also much less expensive in Japan than elsewhere, 0.07 USD per 100kb/s when in Finland it is 0.78, US 0.49 and UK 1.35.

The mobile phone industry in Japan is still growing, according to Mr. Fasol, by several Finland’s per year. The operators are also investing heavily, about EURO/US$ 20 bill. a year by the current three main players and another EURO/US$ 6 billion by new entrants.

The main reasons that forced Vodaphone to withdraw from the Japanese market where a lack of respect for the differences in the Japanese market. Market research was perhaps done, but the reports where not read at the head office. Other reasons where lack of investments and handsets that appealed to the market.

The presentation was followed by a lively discussion which would have run much longer than the 15 minutes overrun we made in our schedule.

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